We Came, We Saw, We WABDR'd

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tobyw
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We Came, We Saw, We WABDR'd

Postby tobyw » Mon Sep 24, 2018 10:17 am

WABDR DAY 1

As with most of the best stories in life, this one started with an unexpected chain of events. Bottom line, I ended up with a full weekend pass, during minion sports season mind you, and while I wasn’t exactly sure what to do, something had to be done… A couple phone calls and messages were exchanged, and a haphazard plan was hatched: WABDR!!! As some of you know, the entirety of the WABDR isn’t something typically done in a weekend, nor is it done without some relatively substantial planning. Well, we only a had weekend to burn and in typical fashion hardly any planning, but we headed out anyways for what would be an absolutely epic adventure generally following Sections 2 and 3 of the WABDR between Rimrock lake and Cashmere, WA:

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After a run to the grocery store and a quick game of Tetris, sometime Friday afternoon OG and myself launched from the greater Richland area and headed West, stopping in Naches for a drop of fuel and some last minute sundries.

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OG in the mirror:

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Everything looking tidy at mission control:

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We pulled off the pavement and onto FS-1500, where we promptly decided our tires had too many of the psi’s, so we did something about it:

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With driver comfort again obtained, we headed up toward Bethel Ridge. And up. And up. It’s flat out impressive the altitude gained in just a few miles:

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As we crested the summit, we took a left onto FS-199 to find our intended camp spot for the night, Cash Prairie:

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We trundled Westward along the spine of the mountain, stopping a couple times to take in the views:

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Once we had reached our campsite, the equipment was deployed:

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We set about cooking up a delicious feast of chicken and Riders dogs, enjoying a couple of cocktails, and lying about anything we could. As darkness fell, a very familiar sound rang through the cool night air, and Boyscout arrived in the ever trusty Big Blue, and he brought along what would be the game changer for the remainder of the trip: FIRE!!

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The rest of the night would be spent around the propane heating device, continuing to enjoy adult beverages, embellish stories and nibble on warmed up meat. The moon peaked out through the clouds just about the time we were ready to rack out:

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tobyw
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Re: We Came, We Saw, We WABDR'd

Postby tobyw » Mon Sep 24, 2018 10:18 am

WABDR DAY 2

We woke relatively early Saturday morning, hoping to take in a beautiful sunrise from our perch up high on the mountain. Fortunately or unfortunately, it was overcast with an intermittent drizzle, so we leisurely made breakfast and broke camp, all while continuing to enjoy the fire pit Boyscout had provided.

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Soon enough, we were on the trail and heading in a Northerly direction toward Nile. The rains provided a welcome break from the choking dust, and we even managed to find a rainbow in the morning sun:

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Before long we hit Hwy 410, and it was here we made our first conscious decision to waiver from the formal WABDR route. Instead of taking the desert route along the Wenas, we instead headed West and turned up Bald Mountain Road/FS-1701, with a general plan to run up to the Funny Rocks and down Barber Springs to the 3100 road and into Ellensburg to catch my daughter’s afternoon soccer game. Well…

We made it to the Funny Rocks just in time for lunch:

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As we departed, Jim decided to take the easy route up the rocks:

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We bumped our way along the ridge top, with Jim absolutely skinning it with his expedition trailer in tow:

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Boyscout putting Blue through his paces:

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Somewhere on the downhill side of Barber Springs Road, we decided to follow the map instead of the route we all know well. We had ample time to make the soccer game, and according to the map, this previously uncharted stretch of Barber Springs Road would let us out on the Southern edge of Ellensburg. Perfect! However… As we moved along this stretch of trail, at a relatively high rate of speed I may add, we came across this:

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Bummer!! Absolute 100% non-starter dead end at this point. We were less than 4 miles from pavement, but you simply could not get there from here… It was about a quarter after 3, and the game would be over by 3:45, so with my tail between my legs I headed back up the hill to find cell reception and inform the boss that I wouldn’t be making the game after all. Along the way back up, Boyscout decided to keep Blue’s exercise routine going:

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We also saw some very interesting rock outcroppings:

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With the soft deadline officially missed, we took our time heading the rest of the way down the “normal” Barber Springs route, stopping at the viewpoint to take it all in:

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We rolled into Ellesburg around 5:30pm, with high winds and very ominous clouds enshrouding the area that appeared to be our destination for the evening. Regardless, we fueled up and headed North to find our campsite:

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The climb up Reecer Creek Road is paved, and truly impressive in terms of elevation gained in a relatively short span. It was similar to the climb up toward Bethel Ridge the night before, minus the dust:

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As we arrived at our intended spot for the night, Lion Rock, which is at about 6,200ft in elevation by the way, the sun had gone away and we were enveloped in a cold mist. While we could have survived a camp night here, we thought it best to push North for a while and see if we could find a suitable camp spot at a lower elevation to get out of the mist, and hopefully a little more out of the howling winds as well.

About 2 hours later, we finally pulled into the Ken Wilcox Horse Camp, with calm winds and a markedly warmer ambient temperature. We setup camp, deployed the fire pit, and again went about cooking, bullchitting, and enjoying some libations. We went to bed fat dumb and happy.
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tobyw
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Re: We Came, We Saw, We WABDR'd

Postby tobyw » Mon Sep 24, 2018 10:19 am

WABDR DAY 3

Since it was pitch dark when we arrived at camp, I took the opportunity to snap a couple pictures early Sunday morning:

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At a very leisurely pace, we made our coffee and vittles, broke camp and headed North along FS-9712 to continue our WABDR adventure. I stopped at the exit of the camp ground for the gratuitous Wilcox family photo:

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Not far into the trail, we ran across a couple of guys also running the WABDR, but via 2-wheel machines. If you think packing for a couple days in your Jeep is a thing, just think about this game of Tetris:

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So we plodded along FS-9712, every once in a while getting a glimpse of the mountains to the West as the view peeked through the trees. The sad part was, the WABDR trail generally continues North and East, but the best views really seemed to be off to the West. It was here we made our second decision to veer off the formal route in hopes of something better. And boy did we do it right!!

With OG leading the pack, we hung a left onto FS-312, and not too far in we were greeted with absolutely breathtaking views. Literally:

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After spending all too short of a time taking in the views, we headed further North along the ragged edge of this hogs back, and were dumbfounded to find an even better vantage point:

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With our souls cleansed, we rolled on to find, yep you guessed, another incredible viewpoint:

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We mused about how the poor folks that take the WABDR by guided tour miss out what was truly the best part of the trip. We had lucked out with incredibly clear skies, and it’s sad that a camera simply does not do the view any justice. Reluctantly, we loaded up and headed on, eventually meeting back up with the FS-9712 road.

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The next portion of the WABDR is supposed to be a hard left onto FS-7100, but as we would come to find out, there was a locked gate across the road and we had to rethink our plans. Continuing down FS-9712, we attempted to take every left turn we could to get into that drainage toward Cashmere, but each time we found a locked gate… So, begrudgingly, we simply followed FS-9712 all the way down to the pavement at the base of the Mission Ridge ski area. It was there we aired up, called upon Siri to find us the nearest pizza and beer, and made our way back to civilization after 2-1/2 absolutely epic days in the dirt:

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With food and fuel applied, we headed West on Hwy 2 out of Wenatchee and made the left turn onto Hwy 97 over Blewett Pass and eventually down to Ellensburg. We opted against I-82 and instead took the Canyon Road through the Umtanums, and eventually hit the freeway just North of Selah. As we arrived back in Tri-Cities, the Harvest Moon was stunning as it rose in the evening sky:

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There was only one way to describe the entire experience: WABDR!!!! 8)
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TJDave
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Re: We Came, We Saw, We WABDR'd

Postby TJDave » Mon Sep 24, 2018 5:51 pm

8) 8) So cool. Awesome report as always. Thank you for posting! 8) 8)
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Lud
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Re: We Came, We Saw, We WABDR'd

Postby Lud » Sat Sep 29, 2018 8:11 pm

Awesome. You should take another weekend and do 4 and 5 sometime. Breathtaking views.
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